common knowledge
What everyone knows
Common knowledge is information widely known and accepted without need for proof or citation.
If something is common knowledge, you can assume your audience already knows it: It's common knowledge that the Earth orbits the Sun.
The phrase often appears when someone states the obvious or when distinguishing what needs documentation from what doesn't.
Inherited cultural narratives
- triviaUnimportant miscellaneous facts
- loreTraditional knowledge transmitted orally
- proverbsTraditional wisdom capsules
- sayingsTraditional pithy expressions
customs · traditions · myths · legends · beliefs · superstitions · oral history · received wisdom
Existing across many places
- universalAffecting all equally
- publicAvailable to all
- generalWidespread, not specialized
- collectiveJointly organized group
familiar · accepted · mainstream · conventional · everyday · ordinary · commonplace · well-known
State of perceiving reality
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
- graspSeize or understand
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
- realizationGrasping what's true
familiarity · acquaintance · cognizance · insight · perception · discernment · apprehension · consciousness
folklore
Inherited cultural narratives
- triviaUnimportant miscellaneous facts
- loreTraditional knowledge transmitted orally
- proverbsTraditional wisdom capsules
sayings · customs · traditions · myths · legends · beliefs · superstitions · oral history · received wisdom · folk wisdom
widespread
Existing across many places
collective · familiar · accepted · mainstream · conventional · everyday · ordinary · commonplace · well-known · standard
awareness
State of perceiving reality
- comprehensionMental understanding of meaning
- graspSeize or understand
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
realization · familiarity · acquaintance · cognizance · insight · perception · discernment · apprehension · consciousness · enlightenment
- Public Knowledgescience literacy, health literacy, media literacy, awareness campaigns, outreach
- knowledgebook learning, encyclopedia, reference book, dictionary, thesaurus
- game theoryzero-sum game, prisoners dilemma, minimax, payoff, equilibrium
- shared understandingmutual respect, shared values, shared beliefs, shared goals, consensus
- difficultyeasy, hard, medium, difficult, moderate
- awarenessalertness, aware, attention, cognizance, conscious
common knowledgearcane knowledge
Obscure, specialized understanding
esoteric knowledge · privileged information · lost knowledge · secret · mystery
common knowledgespecialized knowledge
Focused skill in one area
technical knowledge · arcana · trade secrets · insider information · trade secret
common knowledgestate secret
Protected government information
classified information · top secret · confidential information · trade secret · privileged information
common, knowledge, community, communication, uncommon, commune, communal, commons, commonality